Paris and San Francisco – September 14, 2015 – On the occasion of the visit to Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) in California by Isabelle Kocher, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of ENGIE, ENGIE concluded a $6 million investment in AMS, a California-based startup specialized in energy storage, through its Corporate Venture Fund ENGIE New Ventures. This investment makes ENGIE the largest strategic investor in AMS and will expand the company’s efforts to develop the first comprehensive B2B energy storage solution.

AMS offers a unique energy storage solution to utilities, tapping into large, concentrated building loads to reduce the load on the grid when dispatched by the utility. Participating businesses benefit with reduced energy costs and enhanced reliability by shaving peak energy demand by as much as 25%.

AMS landed one of the first and largest utility contracts for energy storage in the U.S. and is building 50 MW of B2B energy storage projects for Southern California Edison, a U.S. utility company. Using Tesla energy storage systems, these projects will become the first hybrid-electric building fleets used for grid support in the world. In a market, which could represent USD 6 billion in 2020, AMS expects its business to grow at a rapid pace in the four years to come. ENGIE will focus its full support to expand AMS solutions in the U.S. market and overseas.

Isabelle Kocher, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at ENGIE, said “This is a fantastic opportunity to join forces with AMS and developing valuable storage solutions for our B2B customers. Renewable energy is taking a lead worldwide and with advanced energy storage technology we can both solve the problem of intermittency and make the grid more resilient.”

Susan Kennedy, Founder and CEO of AMS, said “Having ENGIE as a strategic partner will give AMS the strength and expertise to grow our business in the US and internationally. ENGIE’s focus on clean energy, storage-as-a-service and grid resiliency make them one of the most valuable players to enter the energy storage space today.”

The finest hour for energy storage

With global renewable energy capacities expected to reach 2550 GW in 2020 against 1940 GW in 2015 (representing a 24% increase on the period), the world of energy is taking a decisive turn for decades to come. While dropping manufacturing costs are making renewables competitive against most fossil fuels, the last hurdle remaining was their intermittency. Thanks to energy storage solutions developed by AMS, businesses and utilities will now enjoy full profit from renewable energies.

A new investment for ENGIE in the United States

AMS represents the second investment of ENGIE New Ventures in the U.S. in less than a year; last February, ENGIE took a minority stake in Tendril, a Colorado-based company working on reinventing Energy Service Management thanks to an open, cloud-based software platform.

Launched in May 2014, ENGIE New Ventures has so far invested in 8 companies for a total of EUR 25 Million.

Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) is pioneering the use of energy storage systems for electric utility grid support. Using best-in-class energy storage solutions, AMS company designs, finances, installs and manages advanced energy storage solutions for commercial, industrial and government building owners. AMS harnesses and aggregates the stored energy to provide customized grid support to local utilities. To learn more visit

ENGIE develops its businesses (power, natural gas, energy services) around a model based on responsible growth to take on the major challenges of energy’s transition to a low-carbon economy: access to sustainable energy, climate-change mitigation and adaptation, security of supply and the rational use of resources. The Group provides individuals, cities and businesses with highly efficient and innovative solutions largely based on its expertise in four key sectors: renewable energy, energy efficiency, liquefied natural gas and digital technology. ENGIE employs 152,900people worldwide and achieved revenues of €74.7 billion in 2014. The Group is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges (ENGI) and is represented in the main international indices: CAC 40, BEL 20, DJ Euro Stoxx 50, Euronext 100, FTSE Eurotop 100, MSCI Europe, DJSI World, DJSI Europe and Euronext Vigeo (World 120, Eurozone 120, Europe 120 and France 20).